Everybody's Fool
by snowflakey
Summary: He was a 17 year old who cared only for himself. She was playing with fire. Each is decieving the other. In their last hectic year at Hogwarts, can love really conquer all? Quite a dark fic.
1. Chapter One

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter and Co. don't belong to me. This part was inspired by the song "Everybody's Fool" by Evanescence, which doesn't belong to me either. **

**You will notice that all the songs used are by Evanescence – they fit the mood. Look up the lyrics to this song to find out what's going to happen in advance!**

**Chapters wont go up consistently, but on average about once a week. **

**Part One – Everybody's Fool – An Alternate Universe fic. **

**Chapter One.******

**_Perfect_**_ by nature  
  
_

Icons _of **self indulgence  
  
**_

_Just what we all need  
  
_

_More lies about a world that  
  
_Never _was and **never will be**  
  
_

_Have you no shame? Don't you see?  
  
_

_You know you've got _**everybody fooled _…_**

~*~

James Potter tore through the corridors, knocking many younger students out of the way in the process. He was over twenty minutes late for his first Head meeting, which was not something he desired. Not because he knew the Head Girl would be tearing her hair out on account of him, but because Professor Dumbledore, Headmaster of the school, would be present at the meeting. 

James Potter was a person who lacked many qualities some took for granted – love, humility, compassion and respect for others being some. He had his social circle, but in reality, James Potter was a very lonely person. This loneliness had been channeled into a spider web of hate, cruelty and lies that trapped and fed on his soul. 

James Potter was also in the 'popular' group, loved to play jokes on others with his friends and always had a smile, a wink, maybe even chocolates for the ladies. These personality traits clashed horribly, but James thought he had it under control. Every day, he wore an invisible mask. A mask that hid his cruel blue-grey eyes and the thoughts that lay behind them. They say you can tell what a person is thinking by looking at their eyes. Not with James Potter. His were jovial and interested, and kept the mask from slipping.

James' twisted thoughts were known only to few, one of those few being Dumbledore. The Headmaster knew that James' attitude was caused by a mixture of childhood problems and an inability to cope, and thus had taken a gamble assigning the Head Boy position to James, who could abuse it in a heartbeat. James didn't know it, but Dumbledore's motive in giving him Head Boy was to instill responsibility upon James, to give him a position in which he could not let others down. From there, it would be James' own choice of whether or not to save himself.

James felt he had no soul; no inner purpose to keep him moving in life, and was happy to sit and wallow in his misery, where nothing was expected of him. But by giving him the Head Boy position, Dumbledore had put in James a sort of thirst to achieve something; to be something, and James didn't like it. He wanted to continue in his cruel ways, and break others without them realizing that it was him, the happy, loving friend that broke them. He wanted to do to others what had been done to him, purely for his own selfish desires. 

But right then he came to the portrait that lead to the Head's common room, said the password and rushed in, his book bag swinging madly behind him.

He looked up, not into the cornflower blue eyes of the Headmaster, but into the very green eyes of Lily Evans, the very pissed off Head Girl.

Upon seeing him, she immediately stood up, her arms folded.

"Do you realise," she spoke slowly, as if James were five, "That you are so LATE that Professor Dumbledore gave up on you!" Her volume rose as she continued. "And now, I have to work with an ARROGANT LOSER WHO CAN'T EVEN READ HIS OWN WATCH!" 

James knew that she would be angry. This was Lily Evans, teacher's pet extraordinaire who turned up to every class ten minutes early. He found her to be a prissy study freak with a personality about as sweet as artificial sugar, but he didn't hate her. Not because of her generous personality or kindness, but because of her looks. Most males found her to be extremely attractive, and for a good reason too. The only make-up she wore was baby blue eyes shadow and lip gloss, but it served to show off her clear complexion. She wore her school skirt down to her knees, but no skirt could hide the fact that her legs were long and slender. 

And then there was the hair. Dark, auburn hair with lighter, natural red streaks through it. Her hair was dead straight, and always in a ponytail.

You guessed it, right then and there James wanted her. He didn't want to get to know her, he just wanted her. Not to rape or anything. He wanted her hanging on his arm, a trophy girlfriend. Did she want him? At that moment, hell yeah. She wanted him dead. 

James just ignored Lily's words, and with his typical cheerfulness asked 

"Where's Dumbledore?"

"He gave up on you and left! Have you even been listening to what I'm saying?"

"Nope," James grinned, unfazed. He watched Lily grow angrier and angrier in front of him. He laughed silently at his ability to infuriate her.

"You, know what James?" she yelled, getting even louder. "I'm sick of your immaturity, stupidity and all – around moronic behavior! YOU ARE SO RETARDED THAT YOU DON'T EVEN DESERVE THE HONOR OF HEAD BOY!"

"Well, then, let's get down to business, shall we?" James grinned charmingly, watching Lily melt as she lost herself in him. She was so deceivable, so naïve. She had no idea what was really going on inside, how twisted he really was. He watched her sigh, and finally mutter "alright then". They both sat down at the round, circular table in the centre. 

James looked around. It was a Sunday, and only the second day back, so he hadn't even been in here yet. If he could have picked one word to describe the theme, it would be opulent. Everything was done in red and gold, with timber and velvet furnishings, and even a gold-rimmed, full length mirror near the doorway. 

James immediately made the descision to spend his time here, rather than in the seventh year dormitory with his friends. This was huge, fancy, and offered privacy and plenty of time for privacy. With, of course, the added bonus of a whole common room for just him and Lily. In just days, he predicted, she would be swept off her feet by him. 

Lily began to go through with James the things that Dumbledore wanted them to do. They could organise one major event, as well as the Graduation Feast and Ball, and were in charge of keeping the rest of the school up to date with passwords, Hogsmeade dates, etc. In addition to this, they were also to receive other miscellaneous events and assignments from the Headmaster throughout the year.

James grinned charmingly at Lily once again, looking forward to surprising her. He waited politely until she was finished explaining before he spoke.

"Okay then," he said slowly, as if pondering something. "Why don't we, instead of having students go and check the notice boards every week, create a newsletter or something, it'd be easier and we could control what goes in it."

The shock of having James Potter actually living up to his duties and contributing something registered on Lily's face. 

"But …" she said slowly, as if in a daze, her beautiful eyes not quite meeting his. "That's a great idea …"

"Of course it is," laughed James. "Were you expecting anything less?"

"Well, yeah," she said, snapping out of it.

"Well, relax then. I'm here to work as well, you know," he said, looking deeply and sincerely into her eyes. They were crocodile eyes, he noted absently. Light green around the outside, green with brown flecks towards the centre. At that moment he forgot himself. He forgot that he had no intention to work, but only to capture and break Lily Evans. He forgot that he was a depressed and tortured soul. He looked into the eyes of Lily Evans and saw good. Not naivety, prissiness or innocence. Good, and it made him want to be a good person as well. 

They worked well for an hour or two on the newsletter. Called _The Grapevine_, it would contain room on the first two pages for articles of aspiring journalists about topics relevant to the school. Then, there would be notices for the whole school on a different page. After that, pages for each house, as well as columns on Quidditch tips and the like. All in all, it was shaping up to be an interesting year. 

James kept up the friendly, caring, hardworking farce that he was used to, and though he would never admit it to himself, somehow Lily had an effect on him, and he felt good about himself, even though every word that came out of his mouth was a lie. 

It had been a long time since James Potter had felt good.

~*~

Lily Evans was almost skipping as she headed back down the stairs, on her way to the seventh year girls' dormitory to get her things so she could move them to the Head's dormitory. The seventh year ones weren't bad, but they looked like the slums in India compared to the Head's dorm. 

But the opulence of her new dormitory wasn't the only thing that had put her in a good mood. She had just realised what a loss she had suffered by not getting to know James Potter. He seemed immature, but in reality he was a heard-working, caring guy. Or so she thought.

She smiled and waved as she passed a couple of her friends on the way. She had many friends, but none all that close. They were more like acquaintances to her than anything else. But she felt that in James Potter, she had just made a true friend. She had conveniently forgotten all of James' bad points, and was now idolizing him in her mind. 

Did she want him? Badly. In her eyes, he was the perfect boyfriend, and she was looking forward to getting to know him better. Did he want her? God, she hoped so. 

A smile graced her face when she thought about him, but that smile was quickly wiped off when she was grabbed roughly by the arm and pulled into a classroom. She winced as the door slammed shut behind her, leaving her alone face to face Lucius Malfoy and Adam Silverfish. 

"So, Evans," Silverfish began, baring his teeth in a toothy grin. "Made your descision yet?"

Lily whimpered quietly, trying to avoid answering. Malfoy's grip on her arm tightened until she could bear it no longer. 

"Time," she whispered hoarsely. "I need time to think."

The two boys were not pleased. 

"The Dark Lord doesn't have time for you to think. You've had all the holidays to think," said Malfoy impatiently. "Are you going to join him or not?"

"Please, Lucius," she begged. "Don't make me do this." 

"You have no choice, Evans," Silverfish broke in. "You knew what you were getting into when you started messing with us."

"Well, yes, but-"

"No buts. Yes or no?" Lily was trapped. She had nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.

"One week, okay? Just give me one week, and I'll come back to you with my descision,"

"Fine," growled Malfoy. "But after one week, if you don't join, someone close to you will suffer."

He let her go, and she ran out of the classroom, not looking back.

Half an hour later, Lily had deposited her trunk and owl in her private dormitory, and dumped all the notes she had taken when she was working with James on her desk. She flopped onto her bed and groaned, wondering just how she got into such a mess.

She knew perfectly well how, of course, she mused as she played with a gold tassel on her bedspread. Last year, feeling curious, rebellious and mixed up, she had befriended Malfoy and Silverfish in secret, eagerly taking part in their experiments with Dark Arts. At first, it was nothing serious, not for her anyway. But then Voldemort, a Dark wizard rising in Eastern Europe had come into the picture. Malfoy and Silverfish, already members of Voldemort's band of 'Death Eaters' were now pressuring her to join. She had done stupid things, and now she was suffering the consequences.

She flipped over onto her stomach, trying to work out a way to get out of it. What would James think if he knew? She wondered silently, feeling so ashamed of herself. She took out a quill and several sheets of parchment so she could write all her thoughts on the matter down and clear her head. An hour later, after a few tears, she had figured out a plan of action.

She would say yes to Malfoy and Silverfish, but refuse to do anything until she was out of Hogwarts. Then, after graduation at the end of the year, she would flee to Australia, where she had an aunt and two cousins living in northern Sydney, thus escaping all trouble to come, and preventing anyone from pursuing her. 

What about James? What if she got together with him, and they lasted until they were out of Hogwarts? Leaving him would break his heart, she thought, and resolved to deal with that later, even if it meant taking him to Australia with her. 

She felt considerably more refreshed and invigorated after doing that, and as she stuffed the parchment she had been writing on into her bedside drawer, she felt as if a load had been lifted off her shoulders. 

Lily walked down to dinner with a genuine smile on her face, a smile that got even bigger when James, entering at the same time as her, asked her to sit with him and his friends. She accepted, and for the first time she was able to look on in amusement rather than disapproval at the antics of the infamous Marauders. For the first time in a long while, Lily Evans was happy. 

**A/N: I'm quite happy with that. If you leave a review could you please give the chapter a rating out of 7? 7 being fantastic and 1 being not worth reading? **

**Thank you for reading! **

**snowflakey******


	2. Chapter Two

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter and Co. don't belong to me. This part was inspired by the song "Everybody's Fool" by Evanescence, which doesn't belong to me either. **

**You will notice that all the songs used are by Evanescence - they fit the mood. Look up the lyrics to this song to find out what's going to happen in advance!**

**Chapters wont go up consistently, but on average about once every week or two. **

**Part One - Everybody's Fool - An Alternate Universe fic. **

**Chapter Two**

**_Look_**_ here she comes now  
  
_

Bow_ down and _**stare in wonder**_  
  
_

_Oh how we love you  
  
_

_No **flaws** when _you're pretending . 

~*~

That evening passed like a dream for Lily. With the whole Dark Arts disaster out of her mind, she was free to enjoy her dinner with James and his friends. The pork she ate slowly had never tasted so good, and she had never laughed so much in one sitting. Lily realized, with slight dismay, that she had misjudged the Marauders. They may have played stupid, immature jokes on her and members of faculty in the past, but they shared a bond so strong that it seemed to Lily that nothing could break it. 

Another person she had hopelessly misjudged was James. He was being such a gentleman, asking all the right questions and cracking all the right jokes, making her feel at home in her new environment with his friends. She felt incredibly flattered when she realized that James really did want to get to know him better, and that made him all the more sweeter in her eyes. Lily Evans was falling hard and fast for James Potter, and he was standing there ready to catch her.

So there she sat for an hour, laughing as Sirius flicked peas at Remus and teased Peter about his eating habits. For an hour, James was perfect. He had good table manners, didn't say anything stupid, and all around, was everything she was looking for in a boyfriend.

Yes, that's right. Lily Evans was already looking seriously at dating James Potter. You would too if he looked at you the way he looked at her. She was so dizzy with happiness you would have thought she was drunk, or James had just asked her out, but she was simply drunk on the champagne of love. 

Following dinner, Lily took a trip to the library to borrow a novel before heading up to bed. When she reached the common room she saw James, bent over a piece of parchment.

"Hey," she said shyly, closing the door behind her.

"Oh, hi," smiled James, looking up from his work and straightening his glasses.

"What are you doing?" asked Lily as she put her novel down on the table, and took a seat next to him. 

"Oh, just working on some of the newsletter material we talked about earlier," he said, looking up at her. 

"Oh, that's so sweet!" exclaimed Lily before she could stop herself. She blushed. "I mean, I can't believe you'd do that out of our meeting time." The Head Boy and Girl met three times a week, one of those times monitored by Professor Dumbledore.

"Well, you know," said James, putting on an embarrassed face. "It's kinda like a project for me." 

Instantly Lily was on cloud nine. He was such a . perfect guy. After chatting to him for a while, she went upstairs to read, taking her novel with her. But she didn't get past the first page, because all the while she couldn't get James out of her mind.

Yes, that's right. Earlier in the day Lily had been furious with him due to his lack of punctuality, but all it took was one smile and a few sweet comments and she was swept off her feet. But that was just the kind of girl Lily was. Shower her with artful compliments and sentimentality and she was smitten. In fact, Lily was so caught up in her bliss that night that she never stopped to think that maybe, just maybe, it was too good to be true.

~*~

Downstairs in the common room James was practically cackling with glee. She was so easy to read, so . deceivable. It was just so easy to toy with her heart, and James envisioned lifting it up in the air and bringing it to the floor with a crash. He knew, deep down, that she was a nice girl and that he was doing a horrible thing by toying with her, but James just couldn't resist. It was an addiction. Sometimes he almost wanted to stop hurting others, but then the wicked side of him took over, and his conscience rarely surfaced. 

Much later, he too went to bed, and he dreamt good dreams, in which he and Lily led a good life together, just the two of them. Outside of influences, temptation and greed, they were in love, and the mere dream made James want to really be good, achieve something. In this dream her say Lily's true beauty, not what he could do to destroy it. Like Dumbledore had wanted, he was taking responsibility and _being _someone he was proud of, with Lily Evans by his side.

But when James woke up, he remembered nothing. 

~*~

Lily woke up so excited the next morning, which was a little unbelievable, considering she had classes. Back to school was fun, yes, but when you had no really close friends to compare classes and teachers with, it wasn't really that great. But then, there was James .

Lily was a girl with a hard work ethic and was surprised when she thought she saw James show the same characteristics as her. Maybe they had more in common than what they first thought. In any case, they had gotten along extremely well so far and the day ahead was an improvement, if possible. 

If the day was an improvement, the night was bliss. Lily and James completed the outline of the newsletter, and just sat and talked for a while, until the subject turned to love and romance. 

"So, James," said Lily, trying to act casual. "What's happening in your love life?"

"My love life?" James asked, laughing. "Oh, I don't know if I should tell you." he pretended to blush.

"Aw, go on," laughed Lily. "You know you want to.." James knew Lily wanted to know.

"Well," he started, putting on a bashful act. "There might be this one girl that I like ."

"Oh yeah?" responded Lily, the anticipation showing on her face. "Who?" all her plans for subtle hints here and there as to their prospective relationship were out the window, and she couldn't remember a time when she had wanted to know something more.

James' voice instantly changed from stuttering and nervous to smooth and sexy.

"Let me show you ." he said huskily, and leaning over her, he captured her mouth in a kiss.

Lily felt a thousand different emotions running through her at once. She brought her hand out to James' neck and pulled him closer, deepening the kiss. She leant back and enjoyed the sheer feeling of life coursing through her veins. 

James knew not to push it, though, and come on to her too quickly, so her pulled back, smiling at her. 

"That answer your question?" he asked. 

"Hell yeah," she replied, a devilish grin on her face.

"Well, best be going to sleep now," said James, and with a wink, disappeared to his room, barely able to contain his laughter. He had her wrapped around his little finger, and he knew it.

Lily, on the other hand, felt a kind of happiness that could only be described as the first stage of love. She dreamt good dreams that night. Full of candy, laughter and all the other things she dreamt about as a little girl. It looked as though she had finally found something that would complete her. But James, too, was only a dream to her, she just had to wake up and see it.

~*~

The week quickly passed, filled with work and stress, but Lily couldn't remember a time when she'd ever been happier. She and James hadn't kissed again, so she spent the majority of her time with James working on the newsletter. Lily, for the most part, enjoyed spending time with him. They worked well together, and, among other things, the newsletter was almost ready. The only thing left to cover was the front page.

This may sound like a major flaw, but the truth was that James and Lily were planning to put the opening of a new Defense Against Dark Arts club on the front page. The club was designed to provide the room for students to learn whatever extra skills they thought they needed to know to protect themselves. The Head students and all the prefects, including Malfoy, were required to be there. The sheer thought of Malfoy wanting to go made Lily want to last, and she knew he would only be there because he had to.

With the rise of Voldemort and various other Dark Wizards, James had thought it best to give an example to the student body by going, and Lily readily agreed. The whole "I'll join Voldemort after I get out of Hogwarts" promise was pushed to the back of her mind for the time being, and she was thankful James had no inkling of what she had done last week. Just imagine. The Head Girl joining the Dark side. Lily shuddered at the thought. One lot of Dark Arts was more than enough for her.

If there was one thing Lily Evans regretted, it was getting mixed up in the Dark Arts in the first place.

It had all begun at the end of fifth year, at the age where she was looking for a way to rebel. Not against anyone or anything in particular, just for the sheer sake of it. She was sick of being Lily Evans, the perfect prefect who did everything right. She wanted something new and different, outside of her mundane, ordinary life.

So she started hanging around with Malfoy and Silverfish. They were, as you could imagine, shocked at first when Lily Evans turned up at a "gathering" she had overheard about in a potions lesson, but quickly recovered and sought to "educate" her about the Dark side. 

Then Lily realised, some time in sixth year, that this wasn't just some hobby she could vent her rebellious feelings in. This wasn't some obscure body piercing that she could take out anytime she wanted. This was permanent, and the further she got in, the harder it was to get out. 

But, halfway through the next week, Lily mustered up the courage to tell Silverfish that she was going to join, but only at the end of the year, and that she wouldn't have anything to do with Dark Arts until then. He wasn't overjoyed, but passed the message onto Malfoy, who would pass it on to Voldemort. 

~*~

It was a long night, the opening of the Defense Against the Dark Arts Club. About half the school turned up, all sitting in the great hall, whispering and chatting to one another. There were students from all the year groups, and Dumbledore gave them a lengthy speech about the importance of banding together and working as one to overcome the Dark Side, but it all went over Lily's head. She had other, better things to think about, like James. 

When the time came to officially open the club. Dumbledore called Lily to the stage (which by day served as the table at which the teachers ate). James and Lily had worked out beforehand that Lily would write the article and James would take the pictures with his magical Polaroid, and develop them that night. 

Lily stood proudly beside Dumbledore, but she could feel Malfoy's eyes upon her back. So, as she shook Dumbledore's wrinkled hand, declaring the club open and declaring to fight for justice and truth, she crossed her fingers behind her back so that Malfoy, sitting to the side with the other prefects, could see. 

But he wasn't the only one who saw.  

~*~

It was late at night, and James was buggered. But he had to get the bloody pictures for the newsletter ready or Lily would be pissed, and that would ruin all of his plans for her. For the last twenty minutes he had been brewing the Polaroid Potion, a potion that not only put the colour into magical Polaroid's, but animated them as well, making them come to life and do whatever they had been doing when the picture was taken. Now all he had left to do was finish soaking the pictures and watch them come to life, then he was done for the night. Lily would help him stick the pictures on the newsletter and duplicate copies for the student body the next day.

James took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. It was an annoying job, being Lily's slave, but when he imagined robbing her of everything she had, her innocence, her values, her sanity, it suddenly became more than worth it.

He soaked the last picture in the potion, and grinned as he saw the darkness slowly come to life with colour and movement. It was one of Lily, with Dumbledore, grinning as they officially opened the club. Lily was bursting with happiness at the success and turnout of it all, but there was something in her eyes . 

James squinted, and, adjusting his glasses, looked closer. The photograph was taken side on, and when he saw Lily begin to move more clearly. His eyes widened in shock and he almost fell out of his chair.

_For in the final  photograph, where Lily was shaking Dumbledore's hand, pledging alliance to his side, her fingers were crossing and uncrossing behind her back._

James swore loudly. If there was one thing Lily wasn't, it was innocent. 

**A/N: Thanks so much to my reviewers! I appreciate you taking time to tell me what you thought!**

**Notaboy** - Thanks! I hope you enjoy this chapter!

**Serendepetee** - I updated early this week, so I'm in a good mood. :D

**SpAkAy4JeSsE** - Yeah, I love listening to my Evanescence CD. It's become a part of me!

**Lil_Hottie_Angel** - lol. Lily can't hate James coz even though he annoyed her in the beginning all he has to do is smile and she melts. *Sighs*. So naïve, but that's important to the plot.

**x-peanutbutterjellytime-x** - Yeah, when it comes to Dark Arts Lily's pushing it a bit thinking running away will make it all better. James and Lily get closer, then they find out things about each other that they don't want to know! Lol.

**Summerkins** - Thank you! Hope this chapter lived up to your expectations. 

**Addicted2Padfoot - **Thanks so much for giving me heaps of constructive criticism! Okay, we find out more about what got Lily into Dark Arts later on, and also, what was going on in their lives was unimportant at that time because they were only thinking about each other. As the story progresses, we see a few of Lily's friends and more of the Marauders. I hope this chapter was a little less vague; the first chapter was originally double what I posted with heaps of useless things that didn't matter anyway! I'm quite into the Lily/Dark Arts scenario, and I agree with you. In a few chapters we see that not only James becomes "Everybody's Fool", but Lily as well. 

**Lien** - Thanks! 

**Amandinka** - Lol. On Harry Potter boards when I posted it one for my bumpers said "I hate it!" and then I scrolled down to find she was just joking. Yes, I am that gullible! I sometimes believe people when they say things. And yes, Lily is definitely wrong when she thinks she can just run away and make it all better.

**elvencherry07** - Thankyou!

**Demeter, Goddess of Protection** - No, you didn't offend me! I tried to include a bit more detail in this chapter. Hmm . there's a fine line between mysterious and too mysterious, isn't there?

**lilynjamesAAF** - That's what a lot of my teachers at school say - I have potential. I hope I lived up to it this time, lol.

**pyeforsale101** - I like pie. What kind of pie? Sweet or savory? I hope you got my update email - I've been having problems with hotmail lately.

**MapleCharisma - **Thankyou!

**This chapter, could you please rate my story out of seven on the red frog scale. (seven being the frog is a ripper and 1 being there's not much red frog to chew on). **

**Last chapter I averaged 6/7**

**If you would like to be emailed every time I update, please leave your email address in a review.**

**BTW, some people on ASLTW complained about there being all review thankyous and no story. I'd just like to say that the actual story content will always be at least 6 pages on word, no matter how long the thankyous are.**

**Thankyou for reading!**


	3. Chapter Three

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter and Co. don't belong to me. This part was inspired by the song "Everybody's Fool" by Evanescence, which doesn't belong to me either. **

**You will notice that all the songs used are by Evanescence - they fit the mood. Look up the lyrics to this song to find out what's going to happen in advance!**

**Chapters wont go up consistently, but on average about once every week or two. **

**Part One - Everybody's Fool - An Alternate Universe fic. ******

**Chapter Three******

_But now I know she -  
  
**Never** was and never will be  
  
_

_You don't know how you _**betrayed**_ me  
  
_

_And somehow you've got **everybody** fooled._

_~*~_

James couldn't believe it. He just couldn't believe it. How could Lily, sweet, naïve, _innocent _Lily Evans be deceiving Dumbledore? More importantly, deceiving _him_?

This couldn't be true. Hand shaking slightly, James picked up the photograph again, and there was Dumbledore, smiling at Lily, shaking her hand all the while she was lying.

James slammed the photo down in a rage. How could this be? Everything, all his plans to corrupt her innocent mind were out the window now, because she had been deceiving him. 

James was red in the face, and panting slightly, short of breath. He didn't see the irony, of how she was deceiving him, just like he was deceiving her. He tried to convince himself that this was some kind of mistake, but deep down, where hate was feeding upon his soul, he knew it. 

He wasn't the only one out to hurt people. 

He wasn't as alone in his tangled web of lies as he thought he was. He wasn't alone like he had been right from birth. Lily was like him – evil. Oddly, the thought of them having something other than a Head position in common gave him no satisfaction. Rather, she disgusted him. If there was one thing, one single thing he couldn't stand, it was the Dark Arts.

James had been born into a world where only blood mattered. A world where the war of purebloods versus the rest was long overdue, and was slowly rising to the surface. The Potter family were seen as wealthy, kind and respectable, but that was compared to all the other wizarding families. Everyone was out for themselves. Nobody cared about James, only a young child.

He had dreamed, just like every other young wizard his age did, of being a brave, fearless Auror, or a popular, sporty Quidditch player, in a world where everyone was liked and respected. A perfect world. 

But nobody, least of all his parents, bothered to shield young James against this. Although his mother and father did absolutely nothing to encourage it, James was born with strong morals, a good sense of right and wrong. So, his mother and father did everything in their power to get rid of this by feeding him lies, and teaching him to be like them.

Of course, thanks to Dumbledore, Hogwarts was more or less free of prejudice and the likes, but by the time James got there at eleven, it was too late for him to be saved. Sorted into Gryffindor, yes, because he had the ability to be saved, even if nobody else thought so. But the right person never came along.

James' childhood had been destroyed, and he had been introduced into the not-so-perfect world too quickly, where he learnt to take delight in the pain of others, but quietly, as so to keep his popularity. He was there each time Remus transformed into a Werewolf, pretending to support him, but secretly enjoying the agony on his friends' face as he transformed painfully into a beast of the night.  

James was bitter, so bitter thinking of what could have been, the person he could have become. He saw good and recognized it in people like Lily, so he tried to break them, to see them feeling his pain. And it felt good. He had power over other's lives, and he liked it.

What he would give now, at seventeen, to be in a magical snow globe, where good was the white snow that conquered evil below – a perfect world. 

Slowly, in the early hours of the morning, James got over his shock. Of course, no-one was completely innocent, everyone was an actor in the world that was chaos. Lily deceived him, just like she did everyone else. Now he had found out, now he had proof. 

And just like he had planned before, he would ruin her, hurt her, completely and utterly destroy her, expose her secret to the world ….

Just like he, right from the beginning, had been destroyed.

James went to sleep that night with a twisted grin on his face. He had dreams in which Lily could do nothing but scream and cry as he fed her soul to the devil, destroying the innocence she had once possessed.

When he woke up, he remembered this dream, and kept plotting Lily's fate.

* * *

_The Grapevine_ was an instant success, and when a copy appeared on each students' plate at breakfast, the general consensus was that it was a big hit with both staff and students. 

James had omitted the picture of Lily crossing her fingers behind her back and kept it, waiting for more proof, wanting to know just how it had happened. How had she been corrupted? How could be pull this off best? 

James spent most of the day eyeing Lily in class, winking at her when she looked his way, waiting for her to reveal something. His three best "friends" he was sitting with soon became curious about his preoccupation with Lily.

"You know, Prongs," grinned Sirius, leaning back in his chair in Transfiguration. "Evans is a looker. Gonna ask her out?"

James blinked. He had somehow overlooked that. Of course, it would make his plans all the more sweet.

Feigning embarrassment, he said "Yeah … yeah, I think I will."

"Onya mate," smiled Remus, clapping him on the back. "Can't wait to see you two as an item."

"Yeah," said Peter dreamily, thinking of how much he would like to date someone like Lily, but coming off as a girl in the process. The other three looked at him weirdly for a moment before going back to transfiguring their lead into fool's gold. 

* * *

That afternoon following classes, Lily stomped into the Head's Common Room, exhausted, but exited at the prospect of seeing James, who she had barely seen all day. She had only been up to her normal dormitories once or twice, but her friends no longer interested her, so she relied on James. He stood up to greet her as she entered.

"Hey James," smiled Lily tiredly.

"Hey yourself," joked James. "How was your day?"

So kind of him, thought Lily. Always thinking of her before himself.

As if.

"Exhausting. The newsletter went off well, though. How 'bout you?"

"It's great now that you're here," replied James romantically, leaning in to kiss her. 

Lily experienced the same feelings that she did yesterday, and smiled as he ran his tongue over her lips. 

"Be my girlfriend?" he asked softly, looking deep into her eyes.

After a greeting like that, how could she resist? 

"Of course," she said, trying to restrain from grinning like an idiot. She didn't have to try when she remembered something.

"Damn!" she exclaimed, rummaging around in her book bag. "I have to go and meet the Ravenclaw prefects about their part of _The Grapevine_ in – " here she checked her watch "five minutes."

"oh, yeah," said James, unhelpfully. He'd forgotten about that. "Ah well, I'll still be here when you get back,"

"Fantastic," replied Lily, still slightly disappointed. "I'll look forward to it while I argue with Rhodesia Parsnip over whether we should include step by step study notes for each year," 

"See you then!" said James, smiling. "Good luck, though. I'll have my er _… fingers crossed_ for you, then."

Lily, who was headed towards the door, froze. He didn't – he couldn't know, could he? 

She barely managed to sound out a "Yeah, bye then," before rushing out of the room and shutting the door tightly, breathing heavily. She forgot all about her meeting with the Ravenclaw prefects and ran into some unknown corridor, where she slid slowly down the cold, stone wall, a tear trickling down her cheek.

He knew, she could feel it. He, the one person who mattered more than anything to her anything knew her deepest, darkest, most fearful secret. There was nowhere for her to run, nowhere to hide. She was like a frightened rabbit, and she would be ruined.

The one thing, through all the turmoil of her mixed-up thoughts that stuck in her mind was the friendly smile on James' face as he had said it. Maybe it was just a coincidence. Nobody could do something so cruel, so horrible in cold blood, or … Lily paused for a short moment.

Or …. Could they?

* * *

James Potter certainly could. He smiled with that same twisted grin to himself. He had seen her body stiffen, he knew she was guilty, and he knew she was probably with the Ravenclaws, antagonizing over whether or not he knew, waiting for his next move. They were actors on a stage, and James was the director. 

James no longer planned to marry her and corrupt her and their prospective children. He held only disgust and contempt for people like her, who openly fought for Dark Arts. He didn't want to actually marry, and sleep with Death Eaters like her. James, on the other hand, only watched, and destroyed people from the inside without the use of magic. He kept telling himself there was a difference, and that what he was doing was better, different.

It wasn't of course, but it was a bit too late now, and James had no intention of going back. 

He would destroy her in the way that she would destroy others.

But first, she had to wait anxiously for what came next.

And it wasn't going to be pretty.

**A/N: Thanks reviewers! I appreciate your thoughts.**

**Teenage Drama Queen** – Thanks! Hope you enjoy this chapter.

  
**MarauderFan4ever** – Ooo … I'm curious as to what you think is going to happen … hmm … enjoy this chapter!

**ElvishGal** – Thanks. I love Evanescence … they're so original and cool …

**vamperfly** -  panic! Chaos! Disorder! Don't you just love L/J's? lol. Enjoy this chapter.

**LiL'AnGeL1011** – Nah, I've actually got a plot for this story, and since I thought about it for so long and hard (my brain is still recovering) I really don't want to just abandon all the wonderful plans I have ….

**Siriusly*Dizzy** – the beauty about fanfiction is that there is already a world created for you, but the ugly bit is that almost all have the same ending. Eventually, Lily and James will get over themselves, but for now, I'm having fun! You know what? Sometimes I try to be so concise I leave out really important facts!! Lol. Thanks for your review!

**LiTtLe-bLaCk-sTaR** – Thank you! I'm glad you like it!

**shayomac** – Thanks! I've been trying really hard with this fic.

**hgfhfgd**– I'm sorry if I offended you, I was just trying to make a point. I think everyone knows there are other places in the world besides India, so it was kind of a waste of a review, wasn't it?

**Eiko** – We found out a bit more on what made James so whacked up in this chapter, but it's something that gradually becomes clearer as the story progresses. Thanks for reviewing!

**me** – Thanks! I try to update consistently, but unfortunately, I have to go to school. *curses school* Why? Why me?

**elvencherry07** – Red frogs are great! They're chewy and squishy and taste nice … mmm … yeah, they both feel kind of ripped off by the other now, don't they? So hypocritical. Heh.

**Ruth3 **– Of course Lily's cussing is unusual! The idea was for me to emphasize how much influence James has on Lily. Thanks for reviewing!

**x-peanutbutterjellytime-x** – Hey Mel! Thanks so much for your sweet review, I know how hard it is to keep on top of every update for every story! You really flattered me there J 

**This time, can you please rate it out of purple striped clownfish: 7 stripes being great and 1 stripe being not much? Thanks!**

**Last chapter I averaged 6.5 red frogs.**

**Next chapter will be up sooner than this one. **

**Thanks for reading!**


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